Real-time updates and new takes on important news stories

All posts tagged Fort Hood

Thirteen people were killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on soldiers at the Fort Hood Army base, including Maj. Libardo Caraveo. Here is a short profile:

Maj. Libardo Caraveo, a 52-year-old psychologist, was preparing for his first deployment into a combat zone with a support unit that helped soldiers deal with the stresses of war. He arrived at Fort Hood on Wednesday to finish up paperwork before heading for Afghanistan, his son Eduardo, 31, said by phone from Tucson, Arizona.

“He was somebody to look up to, somebody to admire,” Eduardo Caraveo said. “He was a true self-made man, very driven, very hard-working.”

Maj. Caraveo Va., had arrived in the U.S. from Mexico speaking little English as a teenager, his son said. The major put himself through school and eventually earned a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.

He had worked as a teacher and at the Federal Bureau of Prisons and had a private practice in Woodbridge, Va. He’d been in the National Guard for ten years, and had spent one year at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

As a member of the 467th Combat Stress Control Detachment, he would have been responsible for dealing with battlefield trauma in Afghanistan.

His son Eduardo said they hadn’t spoken much about the details of his father’s deployment, adding, “I didn’t even know the actual date.” Read More »

Thirteen people were killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on soldiers at the Fort Hood Army base, including Michael Grant Cahill. Here is a short profile:

Mr. Cahill, a 62-year-old physician assistant, suffered a heart attack two weeks ago and returned to work at the base as a civilian employee after taking just one week off for recovery, said his daughter Keely Vanacker.

“He survived that. He was getting back on track, and he gets killed by a gunman,” Ms. Vanacker said, her words bare with shock and disbelief.

Mr. Cahill, of Cameron, Texas, helped treat soldiers returning from tours of duty or preparing for deployment. Often, Vanacker said, Cahill would walk young soldiers where they needed to go, just to make sure they got the right treatment. Read More »

Thirteen people were killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on soldiers at the Fort Hood Army base, including Staff Sgt. Justin M. DeCrow. Here is a short profile:

Staff Sgt. Justin M. DeCrow, 32, was helping train soldiers on how to help new veterans with paperwork and had felt safe on the Army post.

“He was on a base,” his wife, MaryKay DeCrow, said in a telephone interview from the couple’s home at Fort Gordon, Ga., where she hoped to be reunited with her husband once he finished his work at Fort Hood. “They should be safe there. They should be safe.”

His wife said she wanted everyone to know what a loving man he was. The couple have a 13-year-old daughter, Kylah.

“He was well loved by everyone,” she said through sobs. “He was a loving father and husband and he will be missed by all.”

Sgt. DeCrow’s father, Daniel DeCrow, of Fulton, Ind., said his son graduated high school in Plymouth, Ind., and married his high school sweetheart that summer before joining the Army. The couple moved near Fort Gordon about five years ago, he said.

About a year ago, his son was stationed in Korea for a year. When he returned to the U.S., the Army moved him to Fort Hood while he waited for a position to open up in Fort Gordon so he could move back with his wife and daughter, Daniel DeCrow said. Read More »

Thirteen people were killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on soldiers at the Fort Hood Army base, including Pfc. Kham Xiong. Here is a short profile:

Pfc. Xiong, 23, of St. Paul, Minn., was a father of three whose family had a history of military service.
Pfc. Xiong’s father, Chor Xiong, is a native of Laos who fought the Viet Cong alongside the CIA in 1972; Chor’s father, Kham’s grandfather, also fought with the CIA; and Kham’s brother, Nelson, is a Marine serving in Afghanistan.

“I very mad,” Pfc. Xiong’s father said Friday. Through sniffles and tears, he said his son died for “no reason” and he has a hard time believing Kham is gone. Read More »

Thirteen people were killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on soldiers at the Fort Hood Army base, including Capt. John Gaffaney. Here is a short profile:

Capt. Gaffaney, 56, was a psychiatric nurse who worked for San Diego County, Calif., for more than 20 years and had arrived at Fort Hood the day before the shooting to prepare for a deployment to Iraq.

Capt. Gaffaney, who was born in Williston, N.D., had served in the Navy and later the California National Guard as a younger man, his family said. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he tried to sign up again for military service. Although the Army Reserves at first declined, he got the call about two years ago asking him to rejoin, said his close friend and co-worker Stephanie Powell. Read More »

Thirteen people were killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on soldiers at the Fort Hood Army base, including Pfc. Aaron Thomas Nemelka. Here is a short profile:

The family of one of the victims of the Ft. Hood shooting spoke publicly Saturday, saying that Aaron Nemelka was “proud to serve his country in the military” and that “he had a deep sense of duty and responsibility.”

Mr. Nemelka, a 19-year-old private first class from West Jordan, Utah, trained as a combat engineer and was slated to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan in January.

“He was proud to follow in the footsteps of both of his grandfathers, two of his uncles, and his cousin,” said Mr. Nemelka’s father, Michael. “He felt it was his duty to stand with them in defense of our country.”

Thirteen people were killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on soldiers at the Fort Hood Army base, including Sgt. Amy Krueger. Here is a short profile:

Sgt. Krueger, 29, of Kiel, Wis., joined the Army after the 2001 terrorist attacks and had vowed to take on Osama bin Laden, her mother, Jeri Krueger said.

Sgt. Krueger arrived at Fort Hood on Tuesday and was scheduled to be sent to Afghanistan in December, the mother told the Herald Times Reporter of Manitowoc. Ms. Krueger recalled telling her daughter that she could not take on bin Laden by herself. “Watch me,” her daughter replied.

Kiel High School Principal Dario Talerico said that Sgt. Krueger graduated from the school in 1998 and had spoken at least once to local elementary school students about her career. “I just remember that Amy was a very good kid, who like most kids in a small town are just looking for what their next step in life was going to be and she chose the military,” Talerico said. “Once she got into the military, she really connected with that kind of lifestyle and was really proud to serve her country.”

Thirteen people were killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on soldiers at the Fort Hood Army base, including Spc. Jason Dean Hunt. Here is a short profile:

Spc. Hunt, 22, of Federick, Okla., went into the military after graduating from Tipton High School in 2005 and had gotten married just two months ago, his mother, Gale Hunt, said. He had served 3 1/2 years in the Army, including a stint in Iraq.

Gale Hunt said two uniformed soldiers came to her door late Thursday night to notify her of her son’s death. His mother said Spc. Hunt was family oriented. “He didn’t go in for hunting or sports,” she. “He
was a very quiet boy who enjoyed video games.”

He had re-enlisted for six years after serving his initial two-year assignment, Ms. Hunt said.

Spc. Hunt, known as J.D., was “just kind of a quiet boy and a good kid, very kind,” said Kathy Gray, an administrative assistant at Tipton Schools.

Thirteen people were killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on soldiers at the Fort Hood Army base, including Pfc. Michael Pearson. Here is a short profile:

Pfc. Pearson, 21 years old, of the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook, Ill., quit what he figured was a dead-end furniture company job to join the military about a year ago. “He felt he was in a rut. He wanted to travel, see the world,” his mother, Sheryll Pearson, told the Chicago Tribune. “He also wanted an opportunity to serve the country.”

Ms. Pearson said she hadn’t seen her son for a year because he had been training. She told the Tribune that when she last talked to him on the phone two days ago, they had discussed how he would come home for Christmas.

At Pearson’s family home Friday, a yellow ribbon was tied to a porch light and a sticker stamped with American flags on the front door read, “United we stand.”

Neighbor Jessica Koerber, who was with Pearson’s parents when they received word Thursday their son had died, described him as a man who clearly loved his family — someone who enjoyed horsing around with his nieces and nephews, and other times playing his guitar. “That family lost their gem,” she said. “He was a great kid, a great guy…. Mikey was one of a kind.”